DenverF9Flier

I have booked an itinerary on United at Saver level including a segment on LH 446 from FRA->DEN in May of 2015. When I use my LH PNR to check the booking on the LH website, it is showing seats assigned in row 27. Comparing the seatmap from our reservation to the plans on Seatguru, Seatexpert, etc... it appears to be in the Premium Economy section. Is this just a glitch in the seatmap (I didn't see anything in this thread on adding PE to the 744 fleet?) Or is there a chance that these seats will "stick"? Trying to decide whether to take the gamble, or call to grab one of the pairs of 2's that are available in the rear of the plane.

flyer081900

I completely agree with you. I flew ORD-FRA-ORD in Y+ in the last two weeks. The seats are good, but not great. If TK is a major competitor of LH, the Y+ is inadequate on LH. The seasts are narrower and when the seat in front is in full recline, you cannot use you laptop as they advertise. Additionally, I am not sure why LH put the Y+ cabin directly behind the toilets on the 748. Throughout the entire flight all you could hear was toilets flushing. The first meal was good...but on TK, the food is better categorically. This specifically relates to the Y+ product on LH. t have flown F and C with them and enjoyed both experiences with the new product.

weero

I love that transition. Oscar Wilde himself could not have delivered it any more poignantly.

Given how much non-earning coach fares have dropped in cost over the last two years, a 100% premium won't be all bad. And soon it will start to rain promos.

LH now offers L class ex SIN for <700 EUR all in. If they offered OE for 1400 they would beat all competitors at this stage and be indeed very attractive.

airb330

PHL-FRA (a346) is showing Premium Economy seats and lay-flat C seats in December 2014. They aren't selling PE on the route though obviously.

Flight is usually a 343 or 333.

I didn't think any a346's would be done by then? Probably a glitch?

weero

Well I guess in one month from now, the Mile High Club will be reserved for Biz and F passengers only...

N1003U

Though I am not sure what was "advertised", I tend to disagree with the comment above. On my flight, I specifically asked the person in front of me to recline as far as possible, and I found it quite acceptable for working on a 15-inch laptop. Yes, if one wants to sit fully upright in his or her own seat, and have the tray table fully forward, it will be necessary to pull the screen back some to avoid the fully-reclined seat in front, but I found I could work quite normally (as normally as one can "work" while underway in an airplane) with my computer even when the seat in front was fully reclined.

It is also possible to eat from a tray while the seat in front is reclined, so there is no need to coerce people to put their seatbacks forward at mealtimes, as often occurs in long-haul Y.

flyer081900

Perhaps you should look at the PY advertisement for LH. I cannot believe you were able to work on your laptop with your seat fully reclined. There is only one way to settle this.....picture proof

N1003U

Just for clarity, my seat was only partially reclined (though I see no reason why I couldn't work with it fully reclined). However, the seat in front of me was, in fact, fully reclined.

For "picture proof" I can't offer a personal photo (that will have to wait until the next time I fly in Y+, which may be a while ), but I did find this shot from some random blog... Working with the seat in front fully reclined is definitely tight (and the computer pictured here is more of a 11'' or 12" screen), and with a bigger screen one has to close the screen a bit, but to say one cannot use a laptop with the seat in front fully reclined is to me an overstatement. Cramped, yes. Crappy compared to a C seat? Absolutely. Unusable? not IMHO. I guess is depends on how flexible one is with suboptimal ergonomics. I accept contrary views, but for me the ability to use a computer with the seat in front reclined is suboptimal, but functional. It is to me no worse than some and better than most Y seats from which I have used a computer, and it has the added advantage of an AC power outlet--and one that can handle an 85W power supply without overloading.




BTW, which Y+ ad promises you can use a laptop with the seat in front reclined (honest question, I have seen several ads for LH Y+, but I am sure I have not seem them all, and I don't remember this claim)?

More important to me is that it is a Y seat in which I can actually sleep (though the quality of the sleep is also a highly personal thing). I have never actually flown in a CX Y+ seat, but I have seen them, and the LH seat from dimension and function seems very similar.

weero

Well I haven't experienced LH's yet so I am not a great help here ... but I have been consistently disappointed with CX' offerings and products. From bad food, no IFE, sparse service runs and old Y+, CX has become the foul egg of OW in my prejudice.
And while I find QF's Y+ a lot better in all aspects than BA's (not only due to the much more pleasant accent), BA at least now and then improves their product.

But it looks as if LH really managed to climb to the top of the PEs out there. The cabin looks a lot posher than BA, QF, BR, CX, and JL.

Kleffen

Hi,

Can anybody compare it to the PE that Air France are using on their 777-200 / 300 ?

I flew that a couple of weeks ago and thought it was decent...

N1003U

I tend to fly further forward in CX cabins on longhaul segments, so I can only comment on seeing the CX Y+ product and sitting in it for a few seconds, but it looks and feels physically similar in size and function.

Yes, the LH Y+ is a nice product and fairly "posh" for a Y stool. It took LH forever to admit they needed it, and then another forever to deploy a C product that it probably won't cannibalize, but the result is, IMHO quite nice. Y+ has its fans, and the LH version will not disappoint (except maybe the perpetual whiners who are never happy with anything they are offered).

LH now has a very nice 3/4-class widebody offering that was probably industry-leading in about 2008, but it should work for a while if they can get their pricing and soft product in line.

As has been discussed to death, to me the real question is how much people will pay for it. I would certainly pay a few hundred euros (maybe 500 or so if I were in the right mood) premium to use it. I think if they are looking to get a 50% premium (based on the space it takes up) over higher Y-fares, they are dreaming.

The Y+ is certainly a contender for me on day flights or shorter night flights (e.g., NYC/FRA) when the C fares are out of control.

weero

Maybe you had newer birds than I usually see intra-Asia. Mine were badly chewed up.

But I have to concede that I am exception, most people I know like the CX products including lounges and Y. I won't try them anymore as except the shabby lounge in Changi, SQ is vastly superior in everything other than the PE they do not have yet.
While I won't return to M&M, PE will definitely be a product I'll buy quite often, especially now that LX has jumped on the insane train of having a Cripple-Seven coach and no PE.
But it will most definitely cannibalise from Biz for some customers - I will never buy a Biz fare on LH again unless it is cheaper than PE.
The latter will be a concern yes. And my whine with LH is always that it is not uniformly available. I hope that the Asia routes get the PE soon ... but then I can just jump for the AY promos so no real loss.
That is some 6h+ ... I would not even waste an upgrade cert on that leg. Unless I absolutely have to get more sleep than I get anyway.

demue

The new JL Y+ product for the 787s looks really good in my book and all seats have a proper leg rest if that is something one cares for (I do). I flew JL Class J domestically (kind of Y+ seat) a few days back (KIX-CTS) and did find that seat already very decent and it is not as good (from picture comparison) than that new JL Y+ seat for long haul.

Will be interesting to see what seat SQ comes out with when they bring Y+ next year.

weero

I have never experienced a JL 787 which even had a PE !

hamallu

Yup, agreed . Both JAL and China Airline's new Y+ seats seem like really good offerings. Dare I say even better than TK!! Simply because both seats are hard shell types so no one reclines into you and they have better recline that the AF/SU seat.